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Microsoft’s Satya Nadella has confirmed that the next version of Windows, probably Windows 9, will unify the Windows, Windows Phone, and Xbox operating systems into “one single converged operating system.” Microsoft had previously made some moves towards unification with Universal Windows Apps that run across all three platforms, but this new version of Windows will go a lot further: “This means [we’ll have] one operating system that covers all screen sizes.” The question now, of course, is whether this will be the one-Windows-to-rule-them-all (and in the darkness bind them) that Microsoft desperately needs in order to stay relevant in a rapidly shifting personal computing environment, or whether it’ll just be a jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none flop — a bit like Windows 8.

Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s new CEO. He doesn’t look like Sauron, but they never do, do they?

Way back in June 2012 I called for the unification of Microsoft’s operating systems as an answer to most of the company’s woes. Even though Windows 8 hadn’t even been released yet, Windows Phone 7 and its Metro interface had already lead ballooned, and a lot of angry words had been spilt over the death of the Start menu and the introduction of Metro in Windows 8. A single operating system that leveraged Microsoft’s biggest advantage — its huge Windows developer ecosystem — while at the same time building a unified user experience across all platforms and screen sizes seemed like a surefire way of ensuring the success of both Windows Phone and Xbox, and the continued survival of Windows. Microsoft might have actually stood a chance against Android and Apple smartphones and tablets — but instead it frittered away much of its user base and positive mind share through the fracturing and alienation of its different platforms.

Windows 9 was meant to see the return of the Start menu, and Metro apps running in Desktop windows — and now it seems something altogether more exciting might occur as well.

And now, during Microsoft’s quarterly earnings call, CEO Satya Nadella has confirmed that “We will streamline the next version of Windows from three operating systems into one single converged operating system for screens of all sizes.” Presumably he is talking about Windows 9, which is due in spring 2015 — but I think that would be a very aggressive timeline (unless Microsoft has already been working on this convergence for a while). Another option is that it’ll be Windows 8.2 in spring 2015 with the return of the Start menu, and then the unified Windows 9 coming later in 2015 or 2016.

The big question now is whether one big Windows operating system across all platforms and screen sizes is actually a good thing. Assuming that Microsoft can deliver some amazing developer tooling to allow for slick, cross-platform apps, then I can definitely see this as a good thing for the Windows Metro, Windows Phone, and Xbox One ecosystems. If an indie developer can make one game that works well across desktops, tablets, smartphones, and consoles, then that can only be a good thing. Likewise, this would go a long way towards making Windows Phone a primary target for developers (there are still many top-tier apps missing from the store).

The Xbox One’s home screen, which is already powered by a cut-down version of Windows 8

Beyond unifying the apps, developer tools, and app stores, I’m honestly not sure what form this “converged operating system” will actually take. All three of Microsoft’s major operating systems already make use of the same Windows NT kernel, along with some other low-level libraries. How much further can Microsoft actually take things? Given how a variation of the Metro interface is already used on Windows Phone, Windows 8, and the Xbox One dashboard, maybe this convergence will finally standardize the Metro Start screen across all three platforms, with the same settings and options for all devices and screen sizes? We certainly won’t see the classic Windows Desktop rolled out across Windows Phone and Xbox One, that’s for sure.

On the same earnings call, Nadella said there’ll still be segmentation by SKU; you’re not going to buy a single copy of Windows that you can install on your laptop, smartphone, and game console. Puzzlingly, he also mentioned that “converged Windows” more refers to the fact that there’s going to be just one engineering team, and that they’re going to “approach Windows as one ecosystem.” There is clearly some confusion about just how converged Microsoft’s operating systems are going to become.

In any case, no matter how the engineers actually go about achieving convergence, the main thing is that Microsoft must provide a compelling user experience and bountiful app ecosystem across all platforms and screen sizes. I’m not convinced that unification is necessarily the best way to do it (Apple still manages to do it with iOS and OS X, despite keeping the OSes fairly separate). But, faced with almost zero mobile market share, no obvious route towards regaining consumer market share, and the need to do something dramatic following Nadella’s proclamation of a new vision and direction for Microsoft, it seems convergence is the risky path that will be taken. Stay tuned: If you thought the introduction of the Metro Start screen in 2011 was contentious, I think the next few months, as Microsoft unveils the unified Windows 9, will be even more dramatic.

Having watched the recent MS development conference live via stream, I have no doubt that by “convergence” MS means all-in-one desktops and touchscreen laptops when referring to PCs. The desktop is still very much a legacy attachment that means little to MS at this point besides retaining enterprise users.

Brian Steele

Win8.1Update runs fine on my desktop. It’s supposed to provide better performance than Win7 on the same hardware too. Since upgrading, I don’t miss Win7 at all.

Ray C

I have to agree. I think the people complaining that 8.1 Update isn’t a significant improvement over the original Windows 8 are just complaining just to complain. My main problems from day 1 with Windows 8 were: how do I shut down the computer, can I do a search like on the start menu, how do I close an app, and how do I get to control panel more quickly: All these were fixed in either 8.1 or update 1, not to mention giving the option of booting straight to desktop. Honestly, take away the removal of the start menu, and for 80% of people out there you’re using the desktop the exact same way you did in Win7. As for the removal of the start menu, the vast majority of people complaining aren’t even using the start menu as much as they claim they are.

Neutrino .

If the people who think win8 is crap are just of that opinion because they like to complain, does that mean the people who think Win8 is great are just of that opinion because they are ignorant fanboys?

You might be able to use the Win8 desktop in mostly the same way as the Win7 desktop, but that doesn’t change the fact that many people find the flat, garish Win8 UI scheme with no shadows, effects or transparency just too damn ugly to tolerate. Even Linux looks better.

Jordan Burke

“no shadows, effects or transparency”

Like the upcoming OSX Yosemite?

Andy O

Apple will never produce a dog like Metro

Andy O

Spot on neutrino. Flat, dreary, ugly, interface….I can’t stand it and would never buy a windows phone because of it

Garu Derota

drivers, ffs

Jim Dawkins

No they have legitimate complaints. I agree that under the hood windows 8 is improved over Windows 7. The indexed searching is much better. They still need to fine tune the UI. On the desktop the experience can be jarring when things flip back and forth between desktop and metro. Two variants of the browser UI. Are you in a metro app or desktop app etc. Its NOT a seamless experience. This is something Microsoft needs to pay attention to. They don’t have the luxury of forcing features down the customers throat like they did in the past. They need to listen. One thing you can say about Apple. People actually liked the UI stuff they put out. This is why Ballmer never understood why the Iphone could be so popular. Customers actually liked it.

Andy O

It’s all about the U.I

Tim Aries

Oh yeah, and look at how the whole world is following the flat design, included your beloved Apple.
For me, W8 UI looks ugly, unfinished but promising, yet Yosemite looks like an eye-catching but unprofessional cheap toy.

Andy O

Its not the flatness that’s the problem…its the messy, dreary mono-tone tile interface that’s the problem. As Kiera Nightly might say, you can be flat but also attractive. I happen to hope the windows phone will change the interface so I can buy those excellent Nokia phones.

Lodmot

For me, the problem is that Windows gets more sluggish after so many months of use. It seems like after a year and a half, I’m always having to reinstall Windows freshly. Linux, on the other hand, never acted like that based on my personal experience.

Brian Steele

I had that happen to me on one of my PCs. Turned out to be the crappy A/V software (which I will not name). Hasn’t happened to any of my other PCs. If this continuously happens to you, take a closer look at what you are installing on your PC and what possible alternatives are available.

cobrazombie

Really? In the days of Win95/98 maybe… XP and 7 have run fine for me for years.

Tig3RStyluS

Same experience here, havent had to reinstall Windows 8 since the retail version was installed on 3 home pc’s on launch day. Thats much better than i had with Windows 7, ive had several experiences of having to reinstall after encountering the lockscreen issue where after typing your password, the enter key and the enter button do nothing and you cant login. Even after restarting it, just wouldnt have it. Apart from that 7 was mostly ok for long periods of use… previous versions required quite regular reinstallation.

Roger Christie

Here’s a clue for MS. I won’t even charge them for it. I don’t WANT a touch screen PC. I can’t think of anything I want LESS than a touch screen PC. I am not alone.

Brian Steele

..and Win8.1 doesn’t require you to use a touch-screen PC. So you’re fine…

Roger Christie

No. It doesn’t require it. It’s just designed around it. To the point that things that were effortless become a significant pain in the ass. No thanks.

Bobby Edwards

Maybe some blogger told you that, the same one who gave you candy most likely.
But fact is if you simply click with your mouse it works just fine, there is not one thing on the desktop that has been made to work with a touchscreen, so if you actually try you will see it is the same.

Mark Rieder

This is true for the Desktop but not when you have to use the Start Screen, it is not as simple as click close button, or grab and drag to bottom of screen and drop, to close either, for Apps which do not have a Desktop mode (Like Microsoft Calculator.) designed to run in the Start/Metro/Modern interface.
Both of those actions will close the Apps UI but leave it running in the Task Manager, to fully close it you will have to open the Task Manager and select Apps and close there, or you have to grab the screen at the top and drag the App. to the bottom of the screen then wait till the image flips over then release the App. taking longer than just a simple click does in the Desktop.
Thats if you are like me and hate having Apps running which I may only use once a day, week, year maybe never again. lol.
Windows 8.1 as a desktop is fine for me but the Start Screens Live Tiles personally feels like a reversion to the cluttered look of Windows 3.11 especially on today’s large screens, which was cleaned up by the introduction of the start button in Win 95 in the first place. lol

Adrian

Mark you’re thinking 8 and not 8.1.1. You can just click the x in start screen apps like you do in the desktop. I agree with you about the going to the task manager to really close them even though they are not eating CPU cycles they are still using ram

Mark Rieder

I just tested again and I do apologize if I was not clear in my first post but I use windows 8.1.1 Pro and just ran Microsoft Calculator again in both metro and desktop modes and as I said in my first post the close button (“x”) does not shut the App fully and you still have to go to the Task manager to close it fully.

LOL. And Microsofts slide into obscurity continues. What a stupid stupid decision. Apparently the last two years and Win8 taught them absolutely nothing.

Denver Catboy

I don’t know. Done right, this is exactly what Microsoft needs. I don’t know how old you are, but there is the old adage about there being nothing new under the sun, and in this case, it can’t be more true. Rewind to the late 90s, when there were two classes of machines out there — business/productivity workstations running Windows NT4.0 and home computers running Windows 98. NT4 was an excellent OS, with strong preemtive multitasking and true 32 bit underpinnings, while Windows 98 struggled with the bloat of its Windows 3.x heritage. Hints were made that Windows NT5.0 would bridge the gap, finally removing the 16 bit bloat, cutting out DOS entirely, and making the Windows experience NT across all platforms. It didn’t work out quite that way for NT5, later renamed Windows 2000, as the support wasn’t there yet for true 32 bit drivers in an NT kernel, so one more entry in the 9x line was required (remembers Windows ME? I do. :) Blech!). But Microsoft learned from Win2K and when WinXP came out, the dream finally arrived, and home users were now running on the NT kernel.

Today, we run Windows NT 6.3, AKA Windows 8.1, everywhere in the classic desktop. But new devices have begun to nudge their way into the market place — smartphones and tablets, not to mention gaming consoles. Again, we have a ‘Windows 9x’ running on one set of hardware, and ‘Windows NT’ running on the other. It’s more challenging to make this work because the difference between a tablet and a desktop is far wider than between a home computer and a professional workstation. But if Microsoft can get a handle on making one OS morph into different presentations on different hardware, the benefits of having one application that can be used anywhere subject to the constraints of the hardware is incredible. I’d say the reward for getting this right will be larger than the reward of getting XP right: You replace your game systems and smartphones far more often than you replace your desktop, and every sell is a new Windows License, and that oh-so-delicious advertising revenue.

Ray C

I think they’ll be able to pull it off

Quenepas

Do you have any example on what MS has been able to successfully pull off?

Tony Prescott

Metro Flat UI changed the world from using Skeuomorphism UI. They pulled it off.

Fantasm

Metro UI is ugly and needs to done away with. It’s flatness, dated look and lameness is what I hate most. That and it’s a look designed for a toy (The Xbox)

Dominic Maas

Dated? I have a windows phone and metro is a really powerful thing, bam your app updates, messages etc right there, but that’s my opinion and I respect yours.

Denver Catboy

My biggest complaint about Metro is it’s on a different desktop, hidden from the place I spend most of my time. I’ve done taken my Windows 8.1 desktop and turned it into a glorified Windows 7 workstation (Classic Shell FTW), because I’m just used to being able to stay on one desktop and do what I need to do. If the Start Screen of Windows 8 appeared in a small window above my start button (like the old Start Menu did), I’d really like the whole ‘icon big enough to act as a tiny window into the app’. I actually thought that was kind of cool. On the other hand, 95% of my installed applications are full blown applications, and not Metro Apps….

Ben Albert

That’s what the next update is going to bring. They are going to have new classic start menu with the metro-style icons and live tiles out to the side of it. Almost like making the windows 8 start screen an extension of the windows 7 start menu if you will. I’m super pumped about that.

Jim Dawkins

I can see why from a developers point of view you want to move away from Skeuomorphism UI. From most customers point of view they hate it. At least in the Apple world. Steve Jobs didn’t kick windows arse in mobile because they stopped using Skeuomorphism UI. That was part of the reason why they destroyed everyone else (Windows, Android etc).

Quenepas

TL;DR, enterprise Windows is better than home Windows. Not a big revelation knowing MS cash cow is the business sector. Sucks for them that their grip is getting slippery with all that Google, Apple, Oracle and IBM lard. Old people grew up with Windows and it’s the only thing they know. Young people is growing up with Android, iOS, OSX, and all these new things old people dont even bother learning, oh and they arent very fond of Windows either…

Again MS is shaken and stirred with their empire slipping off their hands or simply taken away from a more versatile competition.

Windows Phone a distant 3rd, Zune killed by Apple, Internet Explorer beaten to a pulp by Chrome/Safari/Firefox for years now, Xbone on a unprofitable division again second place to PS4, Office versus free/online solutions, campuses full of glowing Apple logos and 1-2 Windoze laptops, Dynamics AX beaten by SAP and Oracle… It’s better to simply jump ship and join an evolutionary company rather than an old dinosaur…

Hashirama Senju

I would love to see where is the Internet Explorer beaten to a pulp link? LOL
I have seen countless analysts like you who claim to know the future of everyone. I guess you haven’t gone through the earnings report of MS yesterday (for me). I think you need another quarter earnings to get it through your thick skull. Well if that is what it takes.

Quenepas

Here is your link to Internet Explorer beaten to a pulp LOL,

“As of June 2014, Safari had a 46.1 percent share of the market; this is followed by the native Android browser with 22.8 percent; Chrome with 16.7 percent; Opera Mini at 7.6 percent, Internet Explorer at 2 percent; and, finally, almost lost in the noise is Firefox at 0.7 percent.”

Wow. Reading your comment, then reading your source material, makes me think of all the poor Republicans back in 2012 who were so damn sure that Romney would win the White House and kick Obama out, that the House would go Redder, and the Senate would flip for them as well, and then the gnashing of teeth when 2013 came along and they lost seats in the House, failed to take the Senate, and Obama still was in the White House.

Wait. IE is doing crap? Where’s the 2% coming from? Oh yeah, you have to cherry-pick your values. Not knowing the methodology behind this survey, there’s large potential for your number to be invalid (say, given how Internet Explorer’s User Agent is represented, an x86 tablet running IE11 might get added to the 58.4% general browser number and not counted among the mobile space at all!). But the bottom line is that 58.4% of all surveyed user agents contained the characters ‘MSIE’ somewhere in it. The next two combined can’t match that number. So, much like a Romney supporter back in 2012, you’re left gasping for reasons why your position is right and the numbers lie. Good luck with that. :)

Quenepas

Sorry to crash the party of you teo blowing each other but here is another website with totals: http://www.w3counter.com/globalstats.php It is for totals not just desktops. Ok you can continue blowing each other. peace.

Denver Catboy

I see your W3Counter and raise you a Netmarket. Much like seeing how Romney will trash Obama, and how Obama will trash Romney. Two different polls saying two different things? Thatnever happens. At least in terms of browsers, someone choosing to use IE while you use Safari has no impact on your Safari usage. You could get away with living your life, unless you choose to reveal your true nature by posting things like:

>Sorry to crash the party of you teho blowing each other, but
>here is another website with
>totals: http://www.w3counter.com/globa… It is for totals, not
>just desktops. Ok you can continue blowing each other.
>pPeace.

Protip: You say many more things than I can say about you by throwing homophobic slurs into a post while making so many spelling and grammar mistakes…

But keep doing what you do. I’m sure that’ll go over well with the moderators here.

Quenepas

Cherry pick? I hardly call Google first hit cherry picking… unless Google want to disclose negative stiff about MS! About blowing Im not sure where you get the gay stuff but this is what Im talking about: http://www.fugly.com/media/IMAGES/Random/gently_blow_on_your_screen.jpg you dirty mind you… And of course I’ll keep on doing what I do. My english spelling and grammar is bad but I bet my spanish is better then yours. Pendejo. I dont care bro. You are an asshat. I dont think moderators would blow a word so ofter used in Colbert Report and Daily Show.

Denver Catboy

Hmm…so we’re gonna start throwing insults at each other in foreign languages! This is fun, I choose German and Japanese!

German:

Brett vor dem Kopf haben.

Japanese:
Baka.

The former, literally translated, means ‘to have a board in front of one’s head’. It basically means to be blindly stupid, and is derived from a board that was placed on oxen’s heads to both block their vision and deliver power to whatever they are pulling (before the yoke was invented).

The latter, literally translated from its Kanji, basically means an absurdity in the form of a horse-deer. Its meaning is “idiot”, which I find particularly appropriate for you, and it has plenty of ways of being modified. Baka yarou, a more intense form of baka. Bakamono, meaning born stupid. And Baka ie, basically meaning, “Absurd, go on!” All of these apply to you very well.

The point, made clearly for your small mind, is that there are lies, damn lies, and statistics, and you can justify anything with polls. Your chosen poll’s methodology is also possibly flawed, as the links I supplied would have told you if you bothered to read them. And the bottom line is that you attract more flies with honey than vinegar, and the way to make your point does not include calling people assholes or telling them to blow each other. Because otherwise, you start flame wars, which accomplish nothing but make you look like a jerk. So, use whatever you wish. If Windows doesn’t do it for you, ramp up your Android or your Linux or your iOS, or whatever the hell tickles your pickle. Won’t make a hill of beans difference to any of us. But when you decide to get nasty, don’t be surprised if you don’t get your grammar and spelling nit-picked, get poked at, and get called a horse-deer (or pig-dog, my other favorite mixed-up foreign word, Schweinehund) in return. ;)

46 % really ??I thought the discussion was about unified OS on both platforms ??
Where IE dominates above all … @Quenepas:disqus you need to give in on iOS it sucks to the core … and please do better research on things which are related to topics and not off the course !!
Usage share of desktop and mobile browsers combined for June 2014SourceAndroid
BrowserChromeInternet
ExplorerSafariOpera
Other
Net Applications3.94%15.91%48.39%12.32%2.18%4.47%

Quenepas

Im not sure you understand that for a lot of people, their first experience with the internet was not with internet explorer, is with a crappy android phone. It is not the Internet Explorer that get used to download Chrome or to do WIndows Updates. Have you seen all the jokes about explorer? What do you think would happen if Windows had this: “Please choose your preffered browser, Chrome, Mozilla, Safari, Internet Explorer” upon installation? This is just the business part which runs many tools as web services on Internet Explorer but guess what, where I work tools, designed for IE, work better on Chrome.

MS is just a company that makes money thanks to their lawyers and not their developers or creative thinking. They just suck balls.

Denver Catboy

Is dat sum ageism I see? Why yes, yes it is. And not only that, you’re a pretty dim bulb. The point isn’t enterprise vs. home. It’s about convergence. You oughtta look that up while you assume that everyone over 20 is stuck using an old Palm Pilot while playing X-Wing on his old 486 still running Windows 3.1. :) You might get laughed at by a guy who DID play XWing on a 486, and who has a Haswell i7 running Windows 8.1, an Ivy Bridge running Ubuntu Linux, a Galaxy S5 running Android 4.2.2, AND a Smartwatch. :)

You don’t know what you’re talking about, and you’re about as clueless as … well, that group I referenced in my other comment to you. :)

Quenepas

Nice try asshat but you are wrong. Ageism or whatever, cry me a river, Windows is just a bloatware mess. Get over it. The new generation dont give a shit about Windows unless they have a job working their shit. Seems you havent been to a campus before and are not well aware the type of computers all these new startups and tech companies uses. Hint: is not windows.

Denver Catboy

Nice try asshat but you are wrong. Ageism or whatever, cry me a river,. Windows is just a bloatware mess. Get over it. The new generation don’t give a shit about Windows unless they have a job working their shit. Seems you haven’t been to a campus before and are not well aware the type of computers all these new startups and tech companies uses(Subject Verb Agreement). Hint: is not windows.
——————————————————————————

Given the number of spelling mistakes, grammar mistakes, and profanity in your two replies, you oughtta watch out with the accusations about not setting foot on campus. :) Those are way too easy to turn around on you. ;)

And such anger. So mad. Very ugly it makes you. Like it really matters what you use to get on the web. Or does it infuriate you that someone else might have a different opinion than you? Doge memes are about the best reply for someone like you, actually. That or Star Wars quotes.

Fear leads to anger.
Anger leads to hate.
Hate leads to suffering.

Do you fear me? :D

Quenepas

Cry me a river about ageism but it’s just what is going to happen. MS is making money but also losing a lot of market share in many fronts. Let’s see for how long they can sustain all their problems and pretend to solve them by throwing money at them.

Denver Catboy

If you repeat it enough, it’ll become true. And here’s a hint. “MS is making money” is what it’s all about. And here’s another: The best companies out there are the ones that throw money at problems — it’s called R&D. You should look into that more, because MS isn’t the only one who does it. Google does to, and I, for one, encourage them to keep doing so. I eagerly await the self-driving car and functional wearable tech.

PS: They said that whole ‘it’s just what is going to happen’ thing about racism back in the day, and they’re saying it about sexual orientation today. Good company you keep there. ;)

Quenepas

My dear friend and needle-sharing companion Catboy, that is just insanely funny. MS making R&D? Well it must have the worst R&D ever since all they do is monkey other companies (as in copying them). Ever wonder why none of their shit sticks? Thats because they are always late to the party and jump in as soon as years later when the market has been claimed by better tech companies such as Google and Apple. Google R&D is infinitely better than MS R&D will ever be since at MS their R&D department is called the copying department. They dont throw money, they burn money with Xbone, RROD, surface, dancing ads, over paid employees who do nothing, their shit is whack I tell you…

MS dont make money off their creativity, they make money off their legal department, the only thing they managed to change in these days? skeuomorphism vs flat which Apple adopted. Thats deserves a cookie… a stale cookie.

PS: Im bisexual. Deal with it.

Denver Catboy

Wow. It’s really important to you whether or not I like Microsoft, and thinking that I do, it’s really important you put me in my place, isn’t it? Except for all your flailing around impotently, all you’ve managed to do is amuse me, not irritate me. I give this troll a D-…you try, but you have much to learn, young bridge dweller.

So, while you try to insinuate that I’m a drug user and like to give blowjobs, all you do is make an ass out of yourself on the internet.

PS: My wife is bisexual, taken, and probably much cuter than you. Deal with it. :P

Quenepas

Well, no. It is just entertaining to discuss shit online. We can talk politics if you want but the post aint about it right? I just find funny how someone can like MS having so many better options in pretty much everywhere they have a product on. MS is so boring, tacky and just trying so hard is just pathetic. But you are just a single soul among many who seems to like crappy stuff. hey, even the Aztek sold a few units am I rite?

PS if your wife is bi then is probably you got her pre-banged by yours truly. The damage has been done and we dont care. DOnt worry I’ll deal with it, thanks for your concern. Have a good one!

Denver Catboy

Trollikins, if you think you are going to get a raise out of me by insinuating you’ve had sex with my wife, you’re only about 11 years too late for that. We both knew going into our relationship what each of us had done before we were going to start doing each other. That’s what a mature couple does before they go beyond the ‘interested in each other’ stage. So, I know how many partners she’s had, and she knows how many partners I’ve had. And as for you having sex with her? Given you act like a 12 year old, it’s likely you were an infant when we started dating. So, not bloody likely. :P

The rest of your post? More of the same. The rants of an insecure baka profoundly offended that someone might actually LIKE Microsoft, who has to be offensive to anyone (s)he might even think is pro-Microsoft. I find that very amusing. And I just LOVE trolling trolls…

Lodmot

I agree.

I also believe that eventually Microsoft will need to build a new kernel and scrap the NT one, for the same reasons why they scrapped the Win9x MS-DOS kernel for Windows 2K/XP. Today as it is, Windows 8.1 still is stuck using the same registry mechanism that Win2K/XP had, it relies on the same Win32 API’s that we had 15-20 years ago, and the operating system is very bloated, using up 15-20 GB of disk space (Latest version of Ubuntu only requires 5-10 GB). Granted the Win32 kernel’s been improved and updated over time, but it seems like the overall functionality from a design standpoint is about ready to be redone from scratch. Have a new Windows core that’s fully compatible with Universal Apps, and has built-in emulation support for legacy Win32 apps that’s safer and better-designed than the original Win32 kernel.

Denver Catboy

Technically, no, we’re not using the same Win32 API used 20 years ago, unless you are running a 32 bit version of Windows. And seeing the compatibility problems with old 32 bit OSes, I shudder to think of the hassle a completely new kernel with a redo of 32 bit and 64 bit applications will cause.

Microsoft could immediately remove 3 to 4GB of bloat by removing the cache of installation files (this removes the need for media when you change your system), perhaps by storing the files on the cloud, but what happens if you don’t have net access? Losing your CD could be bad, in that case.

Another way Microsoft could remove bloat is by disabling uninstalling of updates or caching of DLLs. Again, this removes a layer of hardening, and makes a consumer grade OS less stable/need more techie attention, which isn’t bad for you or me, but drives my mother batty.

I’m not sure about Ubuntu’s way of handling the sort of issues that shadow copies of critical system files, backed up installation media, and DLL caching is designed to handle, and maybe Ubuntu might be just as resilient as Windows 7 is for someone like my mom.

On the other hand, are we really quibbling about 20GB of space in an era where I could install Windows 100 times over on my home computer’s hard drive? :D

Lodmot

Good points. ^^

Though on tablets with only 16-32 GB of flash space, a 15-20 GB OS would be way too big. One of my llaptops has an older 64 GB SSD, and I just don’t have the money right now to buy a bigger one for it, so it has to have a smaller OS for now >w<

Denver Catboy

yep. Windows RT + Office + Recovery tools takes 16GB of space, which is in the same ballpark as Ubuntu. Getting Windows x86 into that space may be a challenge, but then again, will we really see x86 tablets with only 32GB of space?

There are plenty of tricks you can do to remove the excess redundancy components. WinSxS and DriverStore, for instance, are folders that you might be able to trim down at the cost of ease of install of Windows components. Also consider if you need hibernation (saves space on your HDD equal to the size of your RAM), and if you can get away with a smaller swap file (but Windows uses Swap even when not in low-memory conditions to move less accessed pages out of RAM — you could be defeating memory management doing this). Plenty of options to use here.

Or just keep using Linux. I’m firmly in the camp of ‘whatever works’. :D

Dustymack

Yeah! Maybe combine Xbox and windows but forget about the phone. Microsoft still hasn’t figured out that they failed in this market.

Denver Catboy

This is a sure-fire recipe for failing in any market. MS can make gains in the smartphone and tablet market by producing software that brings the best experiences to any computing platform, PC to Smartphone and everything inbetween. But if they ‘forget’ about any part of the spectrum, they compromise all the rest — if Google could make an OS that works from the Desktop to the Phone and everywhere inbetween and MS listens to you, they lose the whole kingdom and go the way of IBM.

laracraftmili

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jotun

All these platforms are very different. You can’t just treat them the all the same way, or you end up designing for the lowest common denominator. If you try to design an interface to work with mouse+kb, touch, and controller on big, medium, and small screens, you’ll end up with something that is sub-par on most or all of them.

darkich

My thoughts exactly

Denver Catboy

I agree. This is why Microsoft needs to make an adaptable (responsive?) UI, designed on conforming to the needs of the platform on which it runs. Making an easy to use UI that allows for touch, pen, and traditional input, that can easily be adapted between devices for applications, would be a holy grail. Can Microsoft (or Apple or Google) do it? Time will tell.

mobilityguy

Bingo! The last thing I want when I spend eight hours a day in front of a computer screen is to be handed a UI designed to work on a handheld device or a game machine. Windows was great up through Win7 precisely because it was purpose-built for people who actually write stuff and don’t care about playing Grand Theft Auto or Call of Duty on the same box they use to make money.

If this is Microsoft’s direction, I’ll stick with Windows 7 Ultimate until its EOL in 2020. Given Microsoft’s refusal to support heads-down, high-productivity users, there should be plenty of alternatives by then. If Microsoft wakes up and starts to understand again that customers like me exist, they might even be one of those alternatives.

If I want to run two completely different UIs on my desktop, I’ll boot Ubuntu in a VM. And, BTW, there’s an ancient design constraint that explains why a 20 inch touch screen positioned horizontally two feet away from the user is a bad idea. It’s called gravity.

Fair point ;) But I’d rather not sacrifice usability during my work time to give me a better GTA experience on my desktop. I’d rather carry in a half pound tablet and use that for gaming on my breaks. BTW I’d also be annoyed if the tablet gaming experience was affected by a design decision that made the tablet a better platform for editing Excel spreadsheets. “Purpose-built” cuts both ways.

Of course, the best approach is to lobby the company to put an Xbox in the break room.

Denver Catboy

I hear ya about the XBox in the Game^H^H^H^HBreak Room. :)

And here’s a way to make an excel-editing tablet: A docking station with a full keyboard, mouse, and monitor. We’re getting to the point that there’s no functional difference between a tablet’s CPU and a desktop’s CPU for the vast majority of spreadsheets out there, so we’re almost at the holy grail of one platform to rule them all. The trick is making that without screwing things up….

mobilityguy

Absolutely, except for one thing: I’d swap out the tablet and substitute a phone. We all carry one anyway, so I suspect the ultimate form factor, when technology allows, will be a phone with the memory and storage of a desktop and a standard docking interface. Connect it to a KVM, it’s a desktop. Connect it to a monitor and game controls, it’s a gaming station. Carry it around, it’s a phone, and it fits in your pocket much better than a tablet would.

In fact, a tablet – with an internal cradle to fit the phone – could be another peripheral. And while we’re going there, why not make the device tiny, so it could fit on a key ring or in a wallet, and make the >phone< a peripheral, connected through Bluetooth? Glass, Oculus and Android Wear are already making phone functions available without physically holding the phone.

Make the device small enough and it could be implanted, but I don't think I want to go that far. :)

Something that powerful, whether phone or tablet, could have two, three or more distinct UIs, each optimized for its expected use – gaming, productivity, communications, content consumption. If implemented with a single underlying OS that allowed properly designed apps to run across every UI on the device, it would give developers the universal development platform they need and users the ideal environments for everything they want to do, all on the same device.

Call me when these are ready to ship. I'm guessing the hardware should be practical well before Windows 7 EOL in 2020.

Denver Catboy

Hehe. Yeah…I’m not too sure that you’ll get the performance of a desktop into a phone, at least not on the top end. They still use mainframes today, and many of the calculations they do would make the average desktop cry today.

A desktop can have a much larger chip that runs at a much higher frequency, because they have a large HSF or even a liquid cooler attached to a huge radiator. A phone (or smaller) will have a much smaller chip, running at a much lower frequency, and will run into thermal limits much sooner — the top of the line SnapDragon, for instance, runs at 2.6GHz x 4 and frequently thermal throttles, while a desktop i7 will run at 3.6GHz x 4 (or even 6!) cores without breaking a sweat. There’s plenty of guides out there to push i7-4770Ks to 4.7GHz. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want a CPU getting up to 80C in my pocket. :D

On the other hand, 2.6GHz (in x86) is enough to do anything outside of high end gaming (and similar workloads, including CAD, simulation, etc). If you need to bang out a spreadsheet? Having a 2.6GHz CPU in your pocket (or your body) that you can plug into a tablet, laptop, or desktop docking station as you need it will definitely be hella cool.

mobilityguy

Moore’s law continues to make things smaller and more powerful (and reduces power consumption, which reduces heat). Moore’s law doesn’t apply to the things we do with our computers – once software does what we need it to, we have less need for more powerful software. (What we want, now that’s something different from what we need.) We’ve reached a plateau in software for many categories like productivity and communications, and that’s what prompts companies like Microsoft to make completely unnecessary changes to software that everyone likes. Think the ribbon interface in Microsoft Office, one of my favorite examples of a useless, counterproductive change that was made entirely to sell upgrades.

Purely in terms of computing power, what vintage desktop computer is equivalent to a modern high-end smartphone? Once our application software plateaus, it’s just a matter of time until the hardware catches up – smaller and more energy efficient, not the most powerful available but – and this is the key point – powerful enough. At that point, the people who need lots of cycles will continue to buy desktops or mainframes, but the mainstream user will need no more computer power than can fit in a pocket (or an implant, but I said I wouldn’t go there).

What was the last version of Windows or Office, or iOS, that added a feature most users couldn’t live without? Even after Microsoft dropped support for Windows XP, June analytics still show the antique OS being used on a quarter of the Windows installed base. I get along fine with Office 2000, including exchanging Word and Excel documents with people running the most modern versions. Apple is pretty aggressive about OS upgrades, but they more or less give their OS away so no one much minds. Could a smartphone today run WinXP (minimum memory requirement under 512MB) and Office 2000? If so, we’re on the way to practical desktop/phone hybrids.

And that’s the problem with Windows 8 to begin with… It is a very nice tablet type interface but falls on it’s face in the desktop world without a ton of workarounds or third party apps. PLUS, sorry but no phone needs to have that type of overhead running all the time burning up memory and battery. Windows is anything but lean. I think this is yet another of the worst ideas they’ve had…

Ray C

I’ve never used a work-around or 3rd party app. There is very little I can do on my Windows 7 boxes I can’t do on my 8.1 boxes. The only feature I used heavily that I no longer have because of the removal of the start menu is quick access to libraries and recently open documents and applications. Those are the only things that take me longer to get into, and I’m not doing anything special. And you don’t think Microsoft has taken into account all the concerns and difficulties that might arise from merging these platforms?

Roger Christie

Evidently not, given what happened when 8 was released.

mobilityguy

To paraphrase: “I like my new OS because I can do almost everything I found useful in my old OS.” Doesn’t sound like progress to me.

jBoss

Wow. The bloggers on this site are not very intelligent. You need to think outside the iBox.

Quikbeam

There are 2 elements that keep me from upgrading to Windows 8.X. Windows 8.1 does not allow for customizable window sizes. I find it rather asinine that an OS called Windows does not allow you to easily have multiple apps open on a window. Cascading windows and having multiple programs open are very important for my work flow.

The second element preventing me from getting Windows 8.X is the way apps are closed. The OS makes it impossible to have it prioritize actually closing apps over suspending apps. Yeah, they added the “X” to the corner of the window, but this still does not close apps, it simply suspends them. I understand the mentality of wanting to have it suspended in order to launch it quickly when it is needed again, but it is a waste of resources. In order to actually close programs, you have to go an incredibly unintuitive extra step or have to kill them through the task manager.
The need for suspending programs only became necessary on a desktop due to the fact apps could not really be minimized on the desktop screen. If there is a program i am going to be using often, then i would simply minimize it and not close it, making the need for suspending programs instead of closing them for a quick launch unnecessary.
If i want to close a program, at the very least i should be able to change settings in order to actually close programs as opposed to suspending them. I am hitting the “X” to close the program, not to suspend it.

The Irony is that Windows 8 could have been an amazing OS had they just done 1 thing, given their customers a choice. I am hoping MS does two separate OS, one for desktop and one for mobile platforms, if not, they will have to make compromises on features to leave out for one or both OS types and instead of having two solid OS, they are going to have 1 OS that cannot perform ideally on either situation.

Combining all the OS would make sense if mobile devices and Desk devices were used for the same thing, but they are not, and that something MS simply has to accept and work with.

Ray C

I guess the argument of the app not closing is a valid one. Most people really can’t give you an intelligent summary of their criticism of Win8.x, at least I don’t see if most of the time on blogs. I think they’ll be able to to merge and meet everyone’s need. All they have to do is have more customizations based on what SKU you have. I’m sure that even merged, it won’t be exactly the same experience on all devices.

Denver Catboy

For most people, the underpinnings of what exactly the OS does (closing vs. suspending) doesn’t matter. What they want is the ability for a program to launch quickly when needed and go away when no longer needed. When you see RAM used up by a terminated but still resident program, you think wasted resources. On the other hand, it takes more time to zero out those memory pages, and empty RAM, in my opinion, is more wasted than RAM filled with a program I used recently and may use again. As long as the OS intelligently manages that RAM, freeing it when another process needs a memory page, I’m happy. And if it saves me a few seconds by not making me wait for the application to reload from non-volatile storage, all the better. After all, that RAM takes the same amount of power whether it’s sitting free waiting for a page from an active program, or its holding unfreed RAM (assuming the memory manager properly frees that RAM when another app asks for it, which I believe it does, from my understanding of how memory management on Windows 8 works), or it’s holding an active program.

Private_Eyescream

Why yes, cramming the RAM memory is BRILLIANT.
If you don’t care about battery life, speed of OS, wasting electricity when RAM chips can completely power down if not used, and increasing the unnecessary hard drive thrashing.

Because Microsoft IS JUST THAT STUPID!!

Jim Dawkins

Some excellent points. Much of the same reason I have not installed it on my laptop. Your second point signifies an issue I’ve noted with Win 8. You can have multiple apps open and not even know it without checking task manager. Hitting X on the window should close the app. This is one of the things I hate about the iphone. Multiple apps open running in the background without any cue up front they are open.

Yoshi

Finally

Ray C

Microsoft will be just fine. All the people speaking doom and gloom on Microsoft were probably going to speak negatively of them anyway. We’re talking about a little under a year from now. The XP retirement will have lasted that much longer. Windows 7 will be that much older. And any criticism of Windows 9, won’t be anything new. I’m sure most of these bloggers who are likely Apple fans will probably try to tear it down every day for 6 months, like they did with Windows 8, but most people will feel like they’ve heard it all before. Windows 8 didn’t have those luxuries. Windows 9 will. Plus, another luxury it will have over Windows 8, is at least it’s something people have gotten used to or are at least more aware of and it’s not a shocker Not to mention that there will be some improvements to what they’ve already done in Update 1, and the start menu will be back to appease at least some. Not to mention they’ll probably be a major player in Enterprise and college markets for quite a while. Those customers are going to keep buying or upgrading Windows.

Then you have to take into account Microsoft is no longer only Windows. It’s probably only their #3 product now. They’ll still keep making plenty of money off Office and Office 365. Azure is a business that grows bigger and bigger every day. They’re coming out with improved Enterprise management applications over the coming year. Windows Phones are starting to be release on more carriers, in more regions, and from more OEMs than ever. Plus, with these layoffs and probably more needed, Microsoft is about to be a much leaner company that can get things done faster.

Trent Larson Larson

“Windows Phones are starting to be release on more carriers, in more regions, and from more OEMs than ever.”

I agree that MS has many profitable businesses but their phones are doing horrible. Single digit market share fighting for scraps with Blackberry. In North America their windows phone penetration is really terrible. Its bombing catastrophically. I don’t care how much YOU might like windows phones, the numbers don’t lie. People have resoundingly rejected windows phones. This is especially true on their higher end phones.. on those markets it is especially dire. MS competes with the bottom of the barrel, cheap handsets with low profit margins. People only get them if they are cheap or free. When people actually shell out money for a phone, they run as far away as possible from the higher end windows phones. And Ballmer, was able to commit yet another bad business decision right before he left, paying billions for Nokia. Now Nadella has to figure out how to slow the bleeding and axe half the employees from Nokia. Ballmer was one lucky boy. Made billions and had no business sense. Zune, Vista, W8, and windows 7 and 8 phones and finally paying over 7 billion for dead in the water Nokia.

Private_Eyescream

Microsoft would fire the experienced and competent Nokia employees rather than junk their own crop of proven-incompetent Microsoft stooges.

After all, what is more important to Microsoft? Continuing a crappy MS-Windows OS or having Nokia-indestructable (a strong selling point) phone with a 42 MP compact camera with a snappy OS and fast user interface. Correct, Microsoft will board all of their Microsoft employees onto their failboat of idiocy and force every qualified Nokia employee to walk the plank… BECAUSE MICROSOFT IS MONUMENTALLY MORONIC. (And no, there was no sarcasm there. Microsoft has proven themselves grossly incompetent for decades already and they’ve also proven that they cannot purchase competence to dilute their own hard-wired stupidity).

Trent Larson Larson

Couple of issues with your argument. Windows phone is stuck at 3 percent market share. Second, the high end Nokia phones you mention are their worst sellers. Mostly they sell the cheaper 520. People only buy windows phone if its cheap. If faced with the decision to pay big bucks for a 1020 or S5 or iphone.. well you know that answer. I’ve worked in Manufacturing and know all too well whats happens if you have excess capacity and little demand. I’m afraid windows phone API is generally rejected cold regardless of how good the device may be. Because in the end of the day all that matters is if people actually buy it. And generally speaking.. they don’t. Many stores and carries don’t even carry them in stock and when they do, they rarely push them. Windows phone is scraping the bottom with blackberry. Nokia needs to cut back now until they actually have demand for their devices. And they don’t. As far as MS doing so badly its not. They have decent profitability as a whole. Their stock price is triple what it was in 2009. Manufacturing is a brutal business and can be extremely volatile.

Again, I agree that Ballmer made a poor decision buying Nokia for 7 billion. And he did it as he was walking out the door. That decision should never have been allowed but he owns a ton of MS stock and buddies with Billy. He left the new CEO with a big mess an he had no choice but to gut the bloated company. That company probably is not worth half that much. But MS has many billion dollar businesses now that are performing well so they are doing just fine believe it or not. But its looking more and more like they missed the mobile boat. They really need to come up with some killer apps or some game changing hardware. So far, all I all see MS pushing “cortana” as their killer must have feature. I don’t think that will be enough. Time will tell.

One think I would suggest is to see how well the new HTC M8 with windows OS does. This is the first time we have an identical hardware device running either android or Windows. The HTC is a popular android phone and my personal favorite. If they fail to have any success selling this device with windows, then that will be very telling about what customers think about windows on mobile. MS won’t be able to blame the device being the M8 is already having success as an Android device.

VICTOR SNAKE

WINDOWS 8, 8.1 AND THE SO CALLED “9”, THAT ARE NOTHING MORE THAN An 8
SERVICE PACK, IS A DOWNGRADE(not upgrade like they like to spill in
sporsored articles, yes a lot of people figured this out) AND A JOKE
DUMBED DOWN OF A DESKTOP OS FOR PRODUCTIVITY THAT MS ANNOYINGLY
TRYING TO FORCE FEED THE PC USERS WITH THEIR BS MOBILE STRATEGY. even
xp, even xp the old ugly is better, prettier and offer better legacy
compatibility.

This isn’t a design decision but an act of desperation. Microsoft is losing out in the fastest growing markets of mobile and tablet computing and it is now losing the race on the home console side. If I were to guess – the thinking here is for Microsoft to essentially make their phone/console/tablet systems more compatible with the desktop Windows systems and therefore solve the ‘app’ problem that they face across all of their platforms. It’s a good idea in theory but it’s not going to work in the marketplace when it competes against products that are optimized against each of these categories. I don’t want my desktop version of Word or Excel to run on my phone – I want a seamless experience that’s optimized to the device and that increases my productivity by using the specific factor of the device in hand to do things that I didn’t necessarily know that I needed to do but that now that I can because of the new tools and technologies that are available to me.

Microsoft is still the big monolith that can’t break away from its historic view of the world. The culture of – we can use our desktop monopoly to crush the competition – is now a liability and it can’t seem to break itself out of it. In order for it to regain its luster it needs to move to a more open platform that is more friendly to developers and innovators and that puts its customers first. It just can’t do that – it’s not Microsoft to do so.

Mirimon

“and is once again, for the third time in a row, losing the race on the home console side”

fixed that for ya

gadget_hero

Guys lets all take a deep breath, this isn’t some coming evil. This is literally no different than how OS X powers OX 10.9 (traditional desktop) and iOS (which has two looks or as $MSFT likes to call it SKUs iPhone/iPad). Lets calm the #$%^ down.

VICTOR SNAKE

this mean that i can run PHOTOSHOP and CRYSIS and on windows phone or I still must rely on that terrible METRO and its terrible SLOW apps thing

Dominic Maas

No they will most likely strip out the win32 APIs (desktop applications) and tbh those APIs are old

David Spake

You know, I wonder how long Google can hold out from gaining some serious graphics muscle in Chrome/Android. Apple just upped their game, and Microsoft has had DirectX for a long time. The future (2-4 years out) view of combined OS’s (Android/Chrome, OSX, Windows) will leave Google with some seriously weak graphics chops.

David Spake

Speaking of which… Seems Google just bought some Finish company:

“The startup, drawElements, focuses on figuring out how to optimize complex graphics for various pieces of mobile hardware.”

chojin999

More childish unusable Metro/ModernUI nonsense crap. So this confirms Windows9 will be a mess as much as Windows8.x/WindowsServer2012

Trent Larson Larson

You nailed it. The core API’s are whats wrong. Those API’s are crippling for developers and we get crummy apps that are far less functional. Now MS wants to allow those crappy modern apps to float as windows apps on desktop. At which point its just trying to emulate windows apps but they are less functional so why bother? I say MS should just wipe out the child like, fisher price squares and be done with it. Or start over with a new API. But they missed that boat a long time ago. The problem MS has now is they were stupid enough to release crappy API’s when beta testers were screaming “don’t do it”. Now, the very thing that will fix windows is the one thing they can’t rip out. Modern API is a systemic terminal disease that cannot be saved. I also don’t like the silly modern mix hybrid start menu on W9 screen shots. I use classic shell with cascading style XP start menu. I also disabled the horrid charms bar on screen and touch pad and just pinned the settings icon on taskbar. The hot corners are truly horrible for desktop use. But thankfully, one can rip out the madness on W8.

It is too early to know what this really means. The Microsoft Surface Pro having the same type of programs as the desktop does give it that much more versatility. The RT can sometimes be limiting due to the lack of software support. This was a stop gap for Intel to get its act together maybe. I love my Surface Pro and personally feel it is best in class for business use. If the kernel commonality is going to bring common file systems, security infrastructure (active directory), unified browsers etc then the business case is strong especially if the hub to all these unification is a server. Think multiple secure access to company data. One can only imagine how kinect for instance is going to move across the device spectrum for example. MS might have mastered the art of multiple GUI by now and maybe they are ready for every possible scenario of providing across a multiplicity of devices given that experience.

Yawn. If I need to run something in windows (insert version) its really easy to run virtual on my Ubuntu box. People are not going to sit around and wait for MS to figure it out.
I have really come to love open source the past 4 years that I don’t want to switch back.

Dominic Maas

This is how I look at everything. When the mouse was introduced, everyone thought it would make you slower “typing is so much easier and faster’ its the same thing here, once ever one is used to it touch can be an extremely powerful thing, especially muiltitouch. We just have to adapt, like we did with mice. Who knows we could be playing battlefield with our fingers?

Fantasm

Well, I have Windows 7 on my PC…
I have Windows 8.1 on my tablet…
I have a couple of Android tablets and my phone was an Android.
Recently, knowing I was in need of a new phone, I started looking at phones, reviews, and so on… comparing Android phones, , and windows phones…
So, yesterday, I bought my new phone…
Android again…
I don’t care if my PC, and my phone run the same ecosystem or not… In fact, I tend to prefer that they don’t… That way I get the best of each system…

Kojen Ku

The Start button and the Metro interface do not matter to me. The mixing the two is, in my opinion, intriguing to me and I like it very much. This is more flexible for people who needs to create content instead of just consumption of content. Given the fact that XBox One runs three operating systems, I am crossing my fingers to see Windows 9 actually has one VM for Desktop OS, one VM for the Phone OS, and one VM for XBox games (not the full XBox One Operating Systems), and one VM for a compact OS that manages them (switching, allocating resources, and etc.).

Drooling!

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Glenn Scott

What kind of an idiot puts a phone gui on a server, finds no one likes it, and does it AGAIN?!

Marc_Razia

…internally they call it “pulling a Ballmer”.

Naipier

“the next version of Windows, probably Windows 9, will unify the Windows, Windows Phone, and Xbox operating systems into “one single converged operating system.” – Wasn’t this the problem in the first place? Have they forgotten windows 8 already? Or how about the PS3? Trying to be everything to everyone often results in being nothing to everyone. I wonder what makes them think this attempt will be different.

Mirimon

how’s the ps3 fit into this? did better than the competition in sales and more than twice the install-base, and growing.

Naipier

Not initially, but Admittedly, I don’t have the sales records for the PS3 versus other consoles, so perhaps that was a poor example.

Mirimon

ah.. well..
ps3 ~87 million sold-in, and 83 million sold-through. from 2006 to present
xb360 ~82.7 million sold-in, but only 38.04 million sold-through from 2005 to present.

while both have shipped nearly the same amount to retailers, with a difference of barely 5 million units to Sony, the ps3 was purchased by almost 45 million more customers….

Kojen Ku

I like this mixing Start menu very much, and I think this will work equally well for desktop and tablet environments. However, I don’t know how this arrangement will work out in the Phone environment, after all. phones are smaller than tablets, and I don’t expect a phone as big as a tablet, or a tablet as small as a phone.

People will look like idiots by putting a tablet on the ear, or using a phone like a tiny tablet.

Denver Catboy

If you can find a way to produce a working alternative to a mini-tablet UI on a smartphone, design it and put it out on the market. If you are successful, you’ll be RICH. Good luck….

Alderran

If you are getting sick of microsoft then I would suggest giving linux a spin. Free open source software and you have a wide variety of desktops to choose from. Ubuntu is a good choice for the beginner. It’s easy to install. You can even keep windows and dual boot. You’ll install all your software through the app store and all apps get updated through a centralized automated process.

Mirimon

Got their work cut out for them I think.. first they need to make an OS that actually DOES work.. then they need to fix the fact that none of their hardware is selling much at all, atm their hardware is costing them.

Laslo Munich

Disclaimer: I run Windows 7 and use and iPhone primarily…. BUT… Windows Phone 8 is by just about any measure the best mobile OS out there. Plus, although you might not like Windows 8… it certainly works…. and although uptake has been sluggish….. reviews give the Surface 3 VERY high marks. I think consolidating on a single OS will be incredibly difficult because of legacy COM issues / kernel issues / device resource issues…. difficult and impossible are two different things… it’s substantial reboot – and MS has a history of failing in that regard…. BUT…. what DOESN’T work about W8?

Mirimon

I actually use the surface pro… and I think it’s a fantastic product, and the only bit of hardware MSFT has ever made that didn’t suddenly fail 3 days after warranty, and actually performs the way they said it would..

as for Win mobile, there are a plethora of reasons why people are avoiding windows phones, It got a bad rap for win7 phones, and for good reason, it was horrid. Win8 phones though are what win phones should have been from the start. Best phone? no, but close. Best OS… no different than the others really, just a different learning method. What it does fail in, is apps, the library of which are not nearly as robust, nor handy as those found on droid and iOS. It also seems to have issues when in use with other non-windows devices. But the phone also lacks in several basics often standard in all smart phones.

Navigation: the gps is poorly implemented here. It is also a painful and lengthy process to get to work, IF you have a model that even supports it.

Gmail: functions poorly here as well. Many of the win8 phones crash when running gmail, while the rest simply take way too long to load. Gmail is the worlds largest email provider, the fact that it is nigh unusable on windows phones is a huge let down.

Internet: IE is jammed down our throats here. You can’t do things like set google as your default search and browser. This is an issue, because IE in this mobile format lacks basic features, such as a forward option, and navigating pages is a pain with constant IE spam redirects. On top of that, IE does not work well with as many sites as google does.

Finally, notifications… it doesn’t really notify you well. If you didn’t hear the keytone for a notification, shame on you, that’s the only way of knowing if you have something new….It’s archaic compared to more modern phones, which are able to display all sorts of notifications via imagery, widgets, vibrations and sound….for just about anything, stocks, time to take meds, emails, etc….

kzin53

I must disagree with your point on windows 8 and gaming. I’ve NEVER had to go through every app and tile and kill them just to free up resources for gaming. I have a decent mid-range rig. Since you seem to have a high-end rig for that, your reason for the kill the apps effort escapes me.

Mirimon

when I have multiple games up, on three xbr84x900 sets, running streaming and add-ons for those.. yeah….Not having silly things I don’t even use taking up resources is fairly wise.

Phobos

I wonder if this unification will turn into a jack of all trades master of none?

Mirimon

like a hybrid car? or a frog?

mondi

fuck of

John Doe

Clusterf**k

DavidHill

If it’s as bad as Windows 8, God help us. http://bit.ly/1akp398 Since the strategy seems from this to be “more Windows 8”, that seems what’s going to happen.

Yikes. Windows 8 has some great improvements under the hood over windows 7. Unfortunately Microsoft was seduced in their belief that their Zune interface would make for a great precursor to a new windows OS. That touch will be used by everybody and no one needs a mouse or keyboard anymore.

bethcwhitehorn

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heathkits

The name of the unified windows – handheld – game OS will be: “Blue Screen”.

heathkits

Microsoft makes these mistakes every generation or so. Vista’s UI was to allow Apple users a migration path into Windows – Windows 8 was to integrate all levels of computing and do we need to mention “Bob” the avatar based OS that also failed miserably. They should stick to making a decent desktop OS and allow enough time between generations for people to master it before all the training becomes obsolete.

Jake Passafiume

It would be nice if I could adjust the window size of an application, u can only have 2 applications on 1 screen. Microsoft needs to give people an option to use the metro ui, whether you have a desktop, tablet or laptop, it should be in settings , because right now I have a 27 inch monitor and apps are useless to me. I like how apple incorporated applications in Mac os x, they allow you to change the size of the application.

8 did not have a start up button. They did not even bothered to listen. So they implemented it. When the people got pissed off they had the 8.1 and put the start menu back. Until now windows do not innovate even in quickly trying to find ways to used 1, 2 or three fingers in the mouse pad with different effects in the screen size and behavior. Extending your hand in your touch screen desktop is an added physical movement unless you are using a yoga laptop that transforms into a tablet. The clamshell design with touch screen takes effort of people to extend their hand. Windows seems to jump in quick to shifting quickly to tablets without any transition application. Laptops is here to stay which is still clamshelled designed. Unless a new technology comes our way that gets rid of keyboard using voice activation command or sensor based interface applications to input commands then clamshell based design is here to stay for a while.

KingJam3s916

Nice article! This was a Great Read for me. :)

KingJam3s916

This can be a Great Thing, like having all devices running on the same exact OS. But it could be bad for us Xbox One Users, just imagine having to the new Windows 9 Software, just so you can update your console. Like we usually have to do with our computers.

blizzkreme

Windows Phone merging into one. Good news. This would be easy for the users. By the way, is it true that Purgatory Mountain, the one found in http://bit.ly/1jifRpt, is defeating this last month?

trfe

So that means every PC game or App made could be played on xbox one. This is awesome!

Vineeth Abraham

Only logical conclusion to this statment by Microsoft is that it will be one OS across all form factors (from say 4inch to 40 inch),that is you can use same apps that you use in a 4 inch screen on a 40 inch screen(touch or not).And so they will need 2 User-Interface(UI),one for desktop and one for smartphones/tablets(Metro).In desktop there will be an additional option for metro UI for curiosity(particularly for touch screens),and there will be an option for desktop UI in smartphones and tablets for the sake of curiosity.

So the conclusion is,no more forcing of phone/tablet UI for desktop users as they did in windows 8 and more or less failed.

Emily Dicson

Microsoft All Old and New Operating systems are good to use, But If you want to use your OS as a commercial level, It is just Windows 7 Professional 32/64bit Full Version OS with license, Which I also used at my office laptop. It will safe anytime without any risk to lost my data after get corruption, Because it has been updating direct from Microsoft server. All you need is to get Microsoft genuine software and its license activation code from: ODosta Store
I also got it, Which is working well from last year.

Emily Dicson

I used all OS, Beside of Microsoft Provides many Operating systems , But Windows 7 is perfect OS for hd gaming with its all versions like; Starter, Home premium, Professional and Ultimate, Which has been used both for home as well as business purpose.
I suggest you to use only a full version of any Operating system to avoid lost of your backup and precious time. Last time, I was need a license for Windows 8.1 pro, Which installed at my cousin’s PC, So one of my friend recommend me to buy it from: ODosta Store
So I bought it, Which is working well.

Touré

It’s Windows 10, not Windows 9.

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